Haryana's BPS Medical College Becomes First Indian Winner Of IMU Award

A team from BPS Government Medical College for Women in Khanpur Kalan has won the IMU-Ron Harden Innovation in Medical Education (IMU-RHIME) Award 2026, marking the first time the award has been won by an Indian college.

The award recognises the college’s student leadership programme, Network of Student Leaders (NEST).

Award presented at Kuala Lumpur conference

The award was presented at the 19th International Medical Education Conference at IMU University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dr. Sumita Sethi, Professor of Ophthalmology at BPSGMC, received the award on behalf of the college.

Dr. Sethi presented the winning work, with Dr. Renu Garg and Dr. Ruchi Agarwal also part of the college team.

The award is intended to encourage innovations in medical education and recognise innovations by academics “which otherwise might go unnoticed”, according to the official document on the award.

Sharing the achievement on social media, Dr. Sethi wrote, “Humbled and delighted to share that our initiative on student leadership, NEST (Network of Student Leaders) received the IMU-Ron Harden Innovation in Medical Education (IMU-RHIME) Award 2026 at the 19th International Medical Education Conference at IMU University, Kuala Lumpur.”

“This is the first time since the award was instituted in 2008 that the rolling trophy has come to India,” she added.

The award has previously been won by medical colleges in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the U.K., the U.S. and Pakistan.

NEST’s work across medical colleges

Under the NEST programme, 278 medical students from 11 colleges across India received leadership training.

The students subsequently led 63 projects addressing community health issues.

The projects covered menstrual hygiene, cervical cancer awareness, child marriage and drug abuse.

The award therefore recognises a programme that linked student leadership training with projects focused on community health issues across India.

Dr. Sethi credited the programme’s core faculty, saying, “None of this would have been possible without the core faculty of NEST, Dr. Renu Garg and Ruchi Agarwal.”

The Director congratulated the team and described the achievement as a matter of pride not only for Haryana but also for the Indian medical fraternity.

Source: The Hindu